What to see, do and hear: ASO opener, Out On Film, Kit Modus and much more

MUSIC

The Beaucoup Jazz & Blues Festival returns for its second year Saturday at 2 p.m. with a stellar lineup of Atlanta-based acts that includes guitar heroes Tinsley Ellis and Grant Green Jr. The festival, which includes a pop-up art village, will be held in the parking lot of the King’s Plaza Shopping Center and will benefit the Roswell Arts Fund. Also on the bill are the Huntertones, Karla Harris and the Kennesaw State University Student Jazz Combo. Tickets are $35.

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The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra begins its 2022-23 season with a new piece by Atlanta native Joel Thompson (“To Awaken the Sleeper” featuring words by writer James Baldwin that Thompson will narrate). The concert, under the baton of guest conductor Peter Oundjian, will feature guest pianist Emanuel Ax performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18 and the full orchestra playing Rachmaninov’s “Symphonic Dances.” Performances are Thursday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $18.

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Folk music legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott performs September 29 at the Red Clay Music Foundry in Duluth. As a youth, Elliott was mentored by Woody Guthrie and has influenced — directly or indirectly — just about every musician who has ever played an acoustic guitar, from Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash to Bruce Springsteen and Guy Clark. Elliott received the Folk Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Tickets are $35.

ART+DESIGN

Remember Tabitha Soren? She was the face of MTV’s Choose or Lose campaign in 1992, which focused on encouraging young adults to vote. She later went on to report for ABC and NBC News but for the last 25 years she has been exploring politics, psychology and culture in a very different space — as a fine-art photographer. Her exhibit Surface Tension continues at Jackson Fine Art through December 23. By appointment only.

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Joe Barry Carroll’s exhibit My View From Seven Feet at Hammonds House Museum has been extended through October 2. In Gail O’Neill’s interview with the self-taught artist and former NBA star for ArtsATL, he says: “I try to approach subjects in a way that makes others want to draw near, pull up a chair, look and listen. I try to make subjects relatable, by focusing on our shared values and our shared human experience.” $10 general admission. Discounts for students and seniors.

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As ArtsATL critic Jerry Cullum explains in his Notebook this month, Norman Wagner is best known as a printmaker, but in his exhibit Images Discovered, he presents drawings, prints, frottage mixed media, assemblage and sculpture which explore the idea that all things in life are interrelated. Georgia State University Art Gallery, Perimeter College, Clarkston, through September 27.

FILM+TV

https://youtu.be/YRSr8Z5qrkU

Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ independent film festival, kicks off this weekend with 11 days of comedy, drama, horror and romance. The first weekend at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema includes Sissy, a horror film directed by Kane Senes and Hannah Barlow, on Saturday night, as well as two Friday night dramas: So Damn Easy Going and Lonesome, both combining sensuality with the hurdles of drugs, money and finding true love. Be sure to check out Steve Murray’s preview of the festival. Through October 2.

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Executive Producer Katy Barksdale will be host a screening of the award-winning documentary, Sing, Freetown with special guest (and fellow executive producer) U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Regal Tara Theater. The film stars and is produced by an Emmy award-winning journalist from Sierra Leone, Sorious Samura. He embarks on a journey with his best friend, Sierra Leone’s most famous playwright, to create an epic work of national theatre — a play to reclaim their country from negative media narratives and the damaging legacy of colonial rule. It doesn’t go quite as planned. The film grapples with culture, race and the continuing impact of colonialism. There will be a Q&A with Samura and others after the screening. Free.

THEATER

Anything Goes at City Springs Theatre Company is true to its name and a far from a stuffy way to spend your weekend. ArtsATL reviewer Luke Evans promises romance, scandal and laugh-out-loud moments, as well as a solid cast. Fans of Golden Age musicals won’t want to miss the final weekend of this production and admire top-notch choreography from Sara Edwards — which “hits all the right notes,” according to Evans — plus noteworthy performances from Mamie Parris and Billy Harrigan Tighe.

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Kids at heart will love the whimsical setting and storybook narrative of Alabama Story, and this weekend is the final weekend to catch this production from Georgia Ensemble Theatre. ArtsATL reviewer Benjamin Carr lauds performer Shannon Eubanks as “having the best comic timing in the state” as well as impeccable on-stage chemistry with co-star Justin Walker. Stage design from Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay will enchant and delight, according to Carr, while playwright Kenneth Jones’ delivers much-needed messages about race and equality.

DANCE

Kit Modus, the Atlanta-based company that integrates contemporary dance and ballet, launches its sixth season Saturday with a concert at Emory Performing Arts Studio. Three works are on the program: one each by guest choreographers Christian Denice and the award-winning Yoshito Sakuraba (his is a world premiere) and one by the company’s founder and artistic director, Jillian Mitchell. Read about the company and its unique aesthetic in Gillian Anne Renault’s interview with Mitchell. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $15.

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1830EST: Artists Talk offers an online forum to explore art-making practices through the lens of working artists and their creativity. The series was initiated by Core Dance in 2021 to cultivate community in response to the pandemic, when live experiences were not possible. Each episode includes interviews, field recordings, soundscapes and stories representing the diverse creative practitioners within the Core Dance global landscape. The first livestream of the season is slated for tonight (September 22) at 6:30 p.m. It features the work of two artists featured in Inside Out — The Collection: Bara Latalova and Zden Brungot Svíteková. Free.